Change
by insaneantics21
Summary: Brittany and Santana need to get away from Chicago, their tiny apartment, and memories. *Puppy-verse #9*


**Author's Note:** A less fluffy installment of the 'Puppy-verse'. Because life can't always be perfect. I wrote some things that will make a few of you not very happy but again, life can't be perfect. Shit happens. There is a lot of fluff and the ending is happy because, duh, it's the Puppy-verse. But there is some unhappiness.

Preceded by:  
Puppy | My Girl(s) | Perfection | Decisions | Baby Love | Baby Love 2: Chaos and Calmness | Slushies: The Next Generation | Little Gold Stars

* * *

**--March 2017 - June 2019--**  
The decision to move to New York City wasn't a difficult one for Brittany and Santana. Santana had been at Northwestern for her undergrad degree and went ahead and continued with her graduate degree there because it was convenient. However, halfway through her first year when she started looking at the future job market for business lawyers she hated the prospects in Chicago. She was also getting tired of living there and she knew Brittany had never liked it because of the lack of people they knew. They both hated their apartment; it was too small to have any real furniture, all they could fit was a bed, a small table with two chairs, and a TV on a stand. Another part of their decision, even though it was unspoken, was that there were memories in Chicago that neither of them wanted to think about anymore. The final straw came when the dance studio where Brittany had been teaching was forced to close.

Santana applied to several schools to transfer to from UCLA to UNC. She knew she'd get in to every single one of them, she was currently ranked number two in her class. However, her top choice (and Brittany's) was NYU. They waited for the acceptance letter patiently in their tiny apartment.

"I can't wait to move," Brittany sighed after she ran into the table for the second time that day. It wasn't hard to do, Santana ran into it on a daily basis.

"Me either, babe. I promise, wherever we go, we're getting a place where the bedroom isn't in the kitchen."

Brittany nodded and kissed Santana's cheek.

When Santana got home from classes the next day Brittany met her at the door with a thick envelope in her hands with the NYU seal stamped on the corner.

"Open it!" the blonde squealed. "Open it! Open it! Open it!"

Santana smiled and shook her head. "Give me a minute to get settled, B!"

Brittany followed Santana right on her heels, bouncing up and down and finally landing on their bed. Santana snatched up the envelope and opened it, Brittany watched closely. Santana pulled out the first sheet of paper and smiled.

"Question, B."

"What? What?"

"You think the ducks in Central Park are just as good as the ones here?"

"Ducks are ducks, S."

"Okay, good. Because we're going to be seeing a lot of them. I got in!"

Brittany leaped up off the bed and wrapped her arms around Santana's neck. She stumbled a bit over a misplaced shoe and fell back to the bed with Santana in her arms.

"We should call Quinn and Rachel!"

"Later, B. Right now we need to celebrate."

"Okay! Let's go out!"

Santana kissed Brittany's neck and smiled. "Let's stay in."

Brittany giggled. "I like that idea, too."

...............

"Oh my God, S! Are you kidding?"

"Nope, got into NYU. We're moving in July. Keep an eye out for any apartments for us, will you?"

"Definitely! I'll talk to Rachel and see if she knows of any jobs B can get. Congrats, S. Seriously."

"Thanks Q. Say hi to everyone for me, I can't wait to live somewhere that I actually know people…even if it is you and Berry."

"Love you, too, S."

...............

In the months that followed Rachel talked to a friend of hers that owned a dance studio in the city and she convinced him that Brittany was good enough to teach at his studio and he promised her a job when they got there. Santana secured a job on campus and since everything else was covered with scholarships (one of the advantages of being Latina, she said) they could hopefully afford something bigger than what they'd been living in. They sold what they couldn't fit in Santana's car and packed the rest in as tightly as they could. When Santana saw the New York City skyline she nudged Brittany awake and the blonde smiled.

"Welcome home, babe," the Latina sighed.

They drove through the city to find Quinn and Rachel's apartment. They were met at the door with hugs and a very shy seven-year-old Allie who only had a few memories of Santana and Brittany.

"I gave you your first rubber duck," Brittany said excitedly to Allie after dinner. Everyone was settled in the living room, Quinn and Rachel on the couch with Allie snuggled in between them and Brittany and Santana stretched out on the floor.

"You chewed on it a lot," Quinn said.

"I remember Christmas," Allie said. "We went to Lima to see Pop 'n' Grandpa 'n' Daddy 'n' Anna. An' you were there."

"That was two years ago," Quinn said. "But Aunt Brittany and Aunt Santana were around a lot before we moved to New York, sweetie. You were just a baby though."

"We'll babysit!" Brittany squealed.

"Maybe," Santana said. Brittany pouted. "Okay, sometimes."

Brittany smiled.

They stayed with Rachel and Quinn while they searched for apartments. Brittany started working with Rachel's friend, Scott, in his dance studio teaching a few classes during the day and Rachel pressed different directors and co-workers to consider her for any shows they could find for her to be in. Another friend of Rachel's, Brian, got Brittany a spot in an off-Broadway show, stretching the blonde's schedule from early mornings to late nights. Santana made sure that her schedule revolved around dropping off and picking Brittany up so she didn't have to walk through the city in the dark.

After two months they finally found an apartment in their price range that didn't require them to put their bed in the kitchen. The landlord insisted it was a two bedroom but Santana argued that one of the bedrooms was more like a linen closet. The other bedroom was small, hardly room for anything but the bed, but at least they weren't living in just one room. They had to shut off the heat in December and ate lots of things on the clearance table at the grocery store in order to afford to live in it but they dealt.

Santana loved Brittany with everything she had and watching the blonde work her ass off day in and day out so Santana could focus on her studies and work only made her love Brittany even more. Brittany was patient, she understood that school was hard even though she swore up and down that Santana was the smartest person she knew.

When her first semester of NYU finals came around Santana was certain she'd been thrust into the depths of Hell and that her professors were trying to kill her. She was stressed beyond belief and she and Brittany had barely seen each other and all of that contributed to their first huge fight in the city.

"S, you've been studying all night. Take a break, please? It's my only night off all week, I want to spend it with you. I want to talk." Brittany opened the blanket that was wrapped around her shoulders and wrapped her arms around Santana and kissed her cheek.

"I can't, B. This final is going to kill my GPA if I don't do well on it. I have to study." Santana scooted some papers out of the way on the small kitchen table and looked through her textbook to find the footnote she needed.

"But you've been studying for hours. You're smart, you'll do fine."

"Brittany!" Santana shrieked and dropped her pencil. "I can't! Okay? God, will you just leave me alone for five minutes and let me work?"

Brittany took a few steps back and wrung her hands. "I…I just w-wanted t-to tell you something."

"Later." Santana picked her pencil back up and started jotting down notes until she heard Brittany sniffle from behind her. "What? What is so damn important that you have to tell me right now?" Santana dropped her pencil again and turned around.

"I…I just wanted t-to tell you about m-my day…"

"What? Some stupid thing about the ducks in the park? You saw a pigeon? Gave a homeless guy change that we can't afford to give right now? I have more important things to do right now, okay?"

Brittany sniffled again and wiped the tears that were escaping from her eyes. "I…I'm going for a walk."

"You can't go for a walk, it's below freezing outside."

"Like you care anyways."

Brittany dropped her blanket and grabbed her coat and left the apartment, Santana just scowled and turned back to her books. She jotted down a few more notes before she looked out the window. It was getting dark. And Brittany was alone. And even in her thick coat there was no denying that Brittany was attractive. And she knew _exactly_ what Brittany was thinking. Santana panicked and grabbed her phone. She dialed Brittany's number and it rang twice then went to her voicemail.

_"This is Brittany! Leave me a message, I like messages! And ducks!" Beep._

"B…Brit, please, I'm sorry. Come home, okay? Come home and I swear you can talk to me all night."

Santana hung up and tried again. Voicemail again. She tried three more times before she gave up and was getting ready to call Quinn and Rachel when her phone rang and Quinn's number flashed on the screen.

"Dear God, Q, please tell me she's with you and alive."

"S, you're Catholic, right?"

"Yeah…"

"And you believe in God?"

"Q, what the hell are you talking about? Yes, I do, okay?"

"Good, because when I get through with you you're going to meet Him."

"Okay, Q, you've got to understand…"

"I don't have to understand _shit_, Santana!" Quinn hissed. "First of all, what the hell did you say to make her cry? Second, why didn't you go after her? Third, why aren't you running out the door of your place to get here?"

"She didn't tell you?"

"No she didn't tell us! She's been too busy crying her eyes out!"

"Look, she just…I need to study, Q! If I blow my GPA there's no way I'll get a job."

"Hold on, S. What, Rachel?"

Santana heard whispering on the other end and she paced back and forth while Rachel talked to Quinn. She heard Brittany's name and the word "stupid" and she knew Quinn was going to rip her a new one.

"Santana," Quinn growled.

"I'm on my way…"

"Oh hell no you aren't! You are going to stay right where you are and come up with a top ten 'ways Quinn can torture Santana' list. Then you can study for your test. B is staying here tonight. "

"Q-"

"No! You listen to me Santana Lopez, you once slashed Dave Karofsky's tires because he called her a dumbass and what did you do tonight?"

"It wasn't-"

"Santana-"

"Shut up, Fabray!" Santana yelled and continued pacing. "God! Why do you _always_ have to get in the middle of this? You did it in high school and you're doing it now! You know we did just fine in Chicago without you and Rachel interfering all the time? We got in fights and we argued and then everything was just fucking fine! You sit there and you say shit about me, don't you? You trash talk me to her and just make things worse! I'm studying my ass off to make sure I can get a good job so she doesn't have to do anything! So she can take time off and relax like she deserves and you're probably sitting there telling her I don't give a shit about her!"

"I think you've done a good job showing her you don't-"

"Bring her home, Fabray."

"San-"

"Quinn, I know I messed up. It's not the first time and it won't be the last time. Bring. Her. Home. And let me fix it. This isn't your problem, okay? We're not yours to fix anymore. You have your own shit to deal with. Just…go tuck your kid in and bring my girl home to me, okay?"

"You really hurt-"

"Quinn, I'm warning you right now that you need to stop this. There are some things you don't understand, alright? Please just bring her home."

"What do you mean, I don't understand? What's so hard to understand about you yelling at her? She keeps mumbling something about you being angry and her having to leave. Jeez, S, what the hell did you do?"

Santana clenched her jaw shut and growled. "We're not getting into this. If you won't bring her back then I'm coming to get her."

"No, she's hurt. Listen, just study for your finals like you wanted and we'll take care of-"

Santana shut her phone and grabbed her coat. She wasn't going to let Quinn win this one. She drove like a bat out of hell to Rachel and Quinn's. She kept trying to call Brittany's phone and still got nothing. Rachel answered when she hit the buzzer to be let up.

"Santana…"

"Berry, let me in or I swear I will set the building on fire to get you guys out."

"Fine."

Santana made her way upstairs and knocked furiously on the door until Rachel answered. She pushed passed the shorter brunette without so much as a word and went to the living room where Quinn was sitting on the couch with Brittany. Quinn stood up and Santana just pushed passed her to kneel down in front of the quivering woman. She took the blonde's hands into her own and kissed each of them.

"B, look at me."

"I'm sorry…You told me to leave so I did. I thought you might…I thought you might want me to go…"

"No, babe, no, listen to me. I just…I was really frustrated and I shouldn't have yelled at you. I'm so sorry, I really should not have yelled. It's not your fault. I'm not mad, okay? And I didn't mean for you to leave, leave. Remember we talked about that? You promised me and I promised you, remember?"

Brittany nodded.

"Don't do this to me again, okay? I was so worried about you, B. You can't just walk around out here."

"I took a cab."

"Okay, well, still. You didn't answer your phone and it made me worry. Don't do that again, please?"

"I won't, I promise."

Santana got up and cupped Brittany's face in her hands and pulled her in for a kiss.

"You guys want to let us in on exactly what is going on here?" Quinn asked. "What did you do, Santana?"

Santana dropped to the couch next to Brittany and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. Brittany snuggled into Santana's side and held on tight.

"We don't have to tell them, B," Santana whispered. She ran her fingers through the blonde's hair and Brittany sighed.

"No, it's okay. I don't want Quinn yelling at you anymore, you don't deserve it."

Santana nodded and took a deep breath. "We split up for a while a couple years ago."

"I cheated," Brittany mumbled. "I was drunk and stupid and I promised I would never do it again."

"And I got mad and kicked her out before we really talked about it. And my promise was that I'd never do that again."

"I lived at the dance studio. It sucked." Brittany sniffled and Santana kissed the top of her head.

"It was only for a couple of months and we worked things out."

"B-but I don't like it when we fight."

Rachel blinked a few times, Quinn had stopped breathing somewhere around 'drunk'.

"Wh-why didn't you…" Quinn gasped. "Why…you never told us! When the hell did this happen?"

"It doesn't matter, Q. We worked it out," Santana said. "Believe it or not, yes, we're capable of working our shit out without you guys. This isn't high school, we don't have to tell you everything."

Rachel blinked a few more times and stood there with her mouth hanging open a little. Quinn just shook her head and dropped down on the couch, Rachel sat down in one of the chairs. There was silence for a few minutes before Brittany smiled.

"I got a new job," Brittany said. "That's what I wanted to tell you."

"What? B! You have two jobs already! Babe, you don't need to do this, we're fine."

"I'm gonna quit the studio for a while, Scott already knows. He's the one that got me the other job. His friend works at that art school um…something about guacamole. Anyways this lady, she's one of the teachers, and she's having a baby soon and she said she didn't want to go back to school for the rest of the year. So I'm going to teach."

"LaGuardia?" Rachel gasped. "Brittany, that school is very prestigious!"

Brittany blinked. "Okay."

"They don't let just anyone teach there!"

"Okay. Well…I'm gonna teach there. Is…is that okay?"

"Yes!" Rachel shrieked. "Brittany! Even just as a replacement for someone on maternity leave this is a fantastic thing to add to your résumé!"

"Okay." Brittany shrugged. "She's nice. She watched me teach at the studio and I gave her tickets to the show and she said she liked me."

"I'm not sure you understand the caliber of…"

"Shut it, Berry! My girl just landed the most amazing job ever and she doesn't need to listen to one of your speeches."

...............

Santana finished the semester with a 3.9 GPA. They spent Christmas Eve night at Quinn and Rachel's and listened to Rachel drone on about the hormone therapy and vitamin regimen she and Quinn were on so they could harvest eggs and attempt invitro the following February. Brittany started teaching when school resumed in January, assisting the existing teacher and getting to know the students. Her schedule was still stretched thin because she was still doing the show but she was still happy. The teacher had her baby in mid-February and Brittany took over full time.

Brittany and Santana were ecstatic when they found out Rachel was pregnant and heartbroken when she miscarried. Even though Santana was in the middle of studying for her spring finals she and Brittany took Allie for the weekend. Brittany kept the girl occupied by turning the bathroom into a makeshift spa and having a movie marathon complete with tons of junk food. Between _The Little Mermaid_ and _Finding Nemo_ Allie finally got them to break and tell her something other than "because we want to have fun" as an answer to all of her questions.

"I know you're lying to me," the eight-year-old said. "Mom never lets me spend the night anywhere without extensive planning."

Brittany glanced over at Santana who looked up from her laptop and sighed. The blonde wrapped her arm around the young girl's shoulders and pulled her in for a Brittany hug.

"Your mom is sick," Brittany said. "She had to go to the hospital but she's going to be okay."

"Oh." Allie looked down at her lap.

"Hey," Santana said. She closed her laptop and smiled. "There's nothing to be scared of, okay? She's going to be just fine. Now, how about some ice cream?"

Allie's face lit up and Santana pulled her to the kitchen.

Brittany and Santana took all of the baby things from Rachel and Quinn and stored them in their spare bedroom/linen closet. Brittany went back to working at the dance studio with Scott when summer vacation started and she kept working on the show. The months slipped by fast, Rachel and Quinn moved to Queens, Santana kept studying and kept her grades high enough to graduate third in her class and had several job offers before her final grades even went through. She chose a large law firm with fantastic benefits and her starting salary was enough for them to move into a larger, two (actual) bedroom apartment in a better neighborhood. Brittany quit working in the show and focused on teaching at the dance studio full time.

"Hey S?"

Brittany and Santana were in bed, Brittany's head on Santana's chest with her arm wrapped around the woman's waist. Santana slipped her fingers through Brittany's hair.

"Yeah, B?"

"I'm glad we moved here. Even if it did kind of suck when we couldn't turn on the heat or the air conditioner."

"I'm glad too, B. It did suck but I promise this year we can turn up the heat as high as you want."

Brittany giggled. "It was kind of fun keeping warm."

"Yeah, it was." Santana smirked and pressed a kiss to the top of the blonde's head.

"Could we still stay here even if maybe I didn't have a job?" Brittany held her breath and Santana's fingers stopped. "Scott said he's moving to Los Angeles in a couple months, something about some movie he's working with some dancers and that he's going to close the studio."

"B…he doesn't have to close it."

"Yeah he does, he owns it."

"What if you took over it? You could take over the studio full time and hire someone to help you out."

Brittany sat up and looked down at the Latina, her eyes wide with hope and a huge grin on her face.

"Really, S? Really, really? My own studio?"

"I don't see why not. Now c'mere and snuggle, we'll talk about it later."

"I don't want to snuggle," Brittany let a sly smile slip across her face and she settled herself on top of Santana. She kissed down Santana's neck and the Latina smiled.

"God I'm glad we moved here," Santana mumbled.


End file.
